Chapter 688 07.687: “Poison Gas Warfare”

At 4:30 a.m. on Sunday, the countdown to the attack was 30 minutes.

The sunlight had not yet risen high enough to penetrate the thick clouds, and the sky presented a strange sight: a faint glow at the top, while the lower part was shrouded in haze, with completely opposite tones.

More than a dozen Krieg soldiers, wearing heavy armor, climbed up the trench silently under the cover of the haze.

Their figures blended into the dim earth, and their movements were swift and steady.

Before arriving at the position, they skillfully turned the valve connected to the chemical tanker.

Tsk-tsk-

As a southeast wind blew over the position of the 1313th Infantry Regiment, the colorless gas rode on the wind and passed through the no-man’s land filled with corpses and mud. The hand of death quietly and slowly touched the enemy position.

“Hmm? What’s that smell?” A sentry on the enemy position frowned and sniffed hard, and smelled a smell similar to rotten hay.

He looked around vigilantly, but there seemed to be nothing obviously unusual about the air. In fact, due to the decrease in the frequency of large-scale battles in recent days, the air quality had improved to a certain extent.

“Ah, it stinks, just like Glock shit!” another rebel soldier complained in disgust, covering his nose.

“Shut up, this is a trench, do you expect to smell anything good here?” another rebel soldier disagreed.

It was five o’clock in the morning, and most of the rebels were still sleeping soundly in the cat ear caves.

Driven by the southeast wind, the colorless gas slowly passed over the barbed wire laid by the enemy, like an invisible river, sank to the bottom of the trench, and penetrated into it silently.

Before long, those who had not put on their gas masks in time began to cough violently.

“Cough – my lungs hurt so much!” A rebel soldier rolled down from the mat to the ground in pain, his hands tightly clutching his throat, his eyes rolled up, his face full of pain and fear.

Fluid quickly built up in his throat, making it hard for him to breathe.

His body twitched continuously on the ground, and he cried out in despair: “Gu… Great… Great Omniscient and Almighty God… Help… Ahem!!!”

“Uh… cough cough…” After struggling in pain for a while, many people lay on the ground motionless, with white foam flowing from the corners of their mouths and obvious edema in their throats and lungs.

“This is… phosgene!!!” A Tzeentchian rebel officer, who was able to discern the composition of the gas through the smell of rotten straw, shouted, “Put on your gas mask! Put on your gas mask!”

Phosgene, also known as carbonyl chloride (dichlorocarbonyl), is an industrial gas synthesized from carbon monoxide and chlorine under strong light.

This gas does not have the conspicuous yellow-green color of chlorine, but is colorless and transparent like carbon monoxide, and is more deadly.

For humans, it is an important organic intermediate and production raw material in modern industry. It also easily reacts chemically with the human body. Even if a small amount is inhaled, it will cause chemical bronchitis and pulmonary edema.

Moreover, only proper gas masks can block phosgene. Homemade simple gas masks, or simple protective measures such as cotton cloth and urine cannot resist its invasion at all.

The sudden chemical attack threw the rebel team into chaos and everyone was panicked.

Some people even climbed out of the trenches regardless of the danger, rushed to the dead bodies of Kriegs lying in the mud, and tried to remove the masks from their faces, completely ignoring whether the faces under the masks had rotted.

But this risky behavior was quickly counterattacked by the Kriegs who were only a hundred meters away.

Colorless phosgene does not affect vision.

As the rebels, wearing only homemade or improvised gas masks, crawled out of the trenches, the heavy bolter bunkers and heavy logging guns on the Krieg position immediately opened fire.

Intensive gunfire rang out, and tracer bullets were like fire snakes, running through the no-man’s land.

Many rebels were shot down and joined the ranks of corpses in the no-man’s land.

Those traitors who were lucky enough to take off their gas masks under the cover of the pile of corpses are now also experiencing a race between life and death.

They hurriedly took off the simple respirators on their faces. The irritating phosgene hit them in large quantities, and tears flowed uncontrollably from their eyes.

Many traitors did not find the correct way to wear gas masks in the first place, and were exposed to phosgene for too long, and eventually fell to the ground and died on the spot.

A traitor managed to pull the gas mask off the face of a dead Krieg soldier.

The moment he took off the mask, a hollow and rotten face came into view. The nose had collapsed and the empty eye sockets were full of nests of rot flies.

The traitor was so frightened that he trembled all over and accidentally inhaled a breath of air filled with phosgene. He immediately felt his throat as if it was burned by fire and the pain was unbearable.

“Cough cough!” He coughed violently, his hands trembling, trying his best to put the gas mask on his face.

However, the edema in his lungs made it difficult for him to breathe. Even if he managed to survive wearing this foul-smelling gas mask, he would not have the energy to fight again.

Suddenly, another long wall of yellow-green mist rolled in from the horizon.

A nearby traitor had fear in his eyes, but was soon engulfed by the yellow-green smoke.

However, to his surprise, he did not die. It turned out that the dead person’s gas mask that emitted a foul smell saved his life.

But soon, the hope in his eyes turned into despair again.

Because in the yellow-green poisonous fog, thousands of figures appeared. Like the attack of the living dead, they climbed out of the trenches in an orderly manner and advanced steadily towards the rebel positions.

Those were Krieg soldiers, about to launch a deadly attack.

What awaits these rebels who remain in the center of the battlefield are the sharp bayonets of the Emperor’s warriors.
–
30 minutes ago, 1314th Infantry Regiment position.

Farida and Louise lay on the firing slope of the position, holding telescopes, nervously observing the situation on the entire battlefield.

Female military inspector Farida, behind her gas mask are a pair of eyes with deep dark circles.

She was both excited and nervous about commanding a large-scale troop for the first time in her life, and she did not sleep a wink the entire night.

The offensive strategy on the tactical sand table has been replayed dozens of times in her mind, and every offensive step is deeply engraved in her memory.

Naturally, she was full of confidence in this attack, but she knew very well that the process would be extremely difficult.

“Phosphorus has begun to be released from Horatio’s position.” Louise stared ahead, watching the Krieg soldiers, whose uniforms blended into the dim earth, crawl out of the trenches, turn on the valve, and whispered.

“Okay! Poison these traitors! Kill them all in the trenches!” Farida quickly turned the telescope and looked at the rebel position, cursing with contempt and indignation. Her voice sounded a little dull through the gas mask.

“According to the agreed attack plan, after releasing the phosgene and then the chlorine gas, it will be our time to attack. The thick yellow-green fog of chlorine gas will provide cover for our attack.” Louise turned her head and said to Farida.

“Is the artillery regiment ready?”

“All units are ready, there are sufficient shells, and the artillery is ready for battle,” Louise replied.

“Very good, let the soldiers get ready!” Farida couldn’t wait to put her hand on the bolter, her fingers trembling slightly, and she was extremely excited.

Row after row of Krieg soldiers, marching in unison, advanced from the communication trenches in the rear to the combat trenches in the front.

Their single-molecule bayonets had been polished to a bright shine the day before, and their engineer shovels were sharpened and flashing with a cold light.

As the attackers, laser guns have limited effect during the attack. What they have to do is to jump into the enemy’s trenches as quickly as possible and kill the traitors with the sharp blades in their hands.

At this close combat distance, cold weapons are more effective than shooting, and the war seems to have returned to the most primitive era of cold weapons.

Watching the enemy being driven out of the trenches and frantically searching for gas masks in the no-man’s land, the positions and bunkers of the 1314th Infantry Regiment and the 1313th Infantry Regiment formed cross fire, and bullets swept through like fiery snakes, and those who were hit fell to the ground one after another.

As time passed, Farida puffed her cheeks nervously and breathed in and out deeply, trying to relieve the tension in her heart.

She was so eager to win the first battle and to celebrate the first victory in her military career.

This is a goal that every fledgling commander desires, but only a small number of people can achieve.

Louise seemed much calmer. She closely observed the situation on both sides, not missing any details.

“Chlorine gas has been released on Horatio’s position,” Louise said suddenly.

Upon hearing “releasing chlorine”, Farida subconsciously prepared to stand up and blow the whistle, but Louise held her down with her backhand.

“Wait, wait for the 1313th Infantry Regiment to launch the attack. The chlorine gas has just been released now, and it will take some time for it to reach the no-man’s land in front of us.” Louise whispered.

Farida had no choice but to suppress her excitement and lay back down on the shooting slope. Her fingers on the bolter made small movements unconsciously, revealing her inner urgency.

About fifteen minutes later.

The soldiers of the 1313th Infantry Regiment who participated in the first offensive echelon silently climbed out of the trenches and, under the cover of yellow-green chlorine gas, steadily advanced towards the Ypres Defense Line.

“The time has come, right now!” Louise decisively jumped down the shooting slope, stood in the trench, inserted the copper whistle into the one-way blowing hole of the mask, and blew the whistle hard.

Sharp whistles pierced the sky, and the soldiers of the 1314th Infantry Regiment climbed out of the trenches one after another, and under the cover of chlorine gas, they rushed towards the enemy positions in silence and courage.

(End of this chapter)